Baghdad – IA
Today, Monday, the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the agreement with Water Resources to expand the cultivation of land with the crop, provided that modern irrigation techniques are adopted, while indicating the success of a plan to cultivate two types of rice and wheat by adopting these techniques and with high productivity.
Ministry spokesman Muhammad Al-Khuzaie told the (INA) in his talk about the summer plan that “there is a state of optimism, especially in light of the rainy season that has not yet ended, and with the snow melting season that has not yet begun, that good quantities of water will be available more than last year.” “.
He added, “We hope for the best regarding the upcoming summer season, as the last season cast a negative shadow on the farms and farmers, especially in the areas designated for the cultivation of cardamom in the governorates, specifically the governorates of Najaf Al-Ashraf, Diwaniyah, and Al-Muthanna.”
He stated, “Last season, only 5 dunums were planted with chili out of more than 320,000 dunums in the two governorates, and this limited area was allocated for planting amber rice seeds to allow their continued cultivation later.”
He stated that “the summer season is long, high temperatures, people’s needs for water during this season, climate variables, and multiple uses of water make it difficult to expand agricultural areas.”
He stated that “the Ministers of Agriculture and Water Resources visited the Al-Najaf Governorate a month ago, and it was agreed between the two ministers to expand the cultivation of the Shalabi lands,” pointing out that “the rice research station in the Al-Mishkhab District in the Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Governorate succeeded in using modern irrigation techniques by growing two types of jasmine rice.” And the results achieved from the initial experiments were promising, with high quantities per dunum exceeding one ton.”
He pointed out that “the Minister of Resources stipulated the adoption of modern irrigation techniques for growing rice, given that it requires flood irrigation for long periods of the year.”